Safety marker



6. D. SCANLON SAFETY MARKER Filed. Feb. 14, 1955 INVOR. 629E155 1% 6mm o/e/ SAFETY MARKER Charles D. Scanlon, Los Angeles, Calif. Application February 14, 1955, Serial No. 487,893 2 Claims. (Cl. 116--63) My invention relates generally to traific safety markers and has particular reference to hollow cone type markers used on public highways to indicate wet paint, pavement repairs or obstructions, and to direct the flow of traffic.

In my previous Patent No. 2,333,273 issued November 2, 1943, I showed and described a trafiic safety cone of the same general type as my present invention which is an improvement thereon. Such trafiic cones have become so widely used that it has become customary to place them, as desired, from a vehicle moving at speeds as high as 20 miles per hour.

The method of placing the cones under such conditions is for an operator to stand on the side of a moving vehicle and swing his arm and the cone in a downward and backward movement to attempt to synchronize the movement of the cone with the vehicles forward movement whereby the relative movement of the cone with respect to the road surface is substantially zero at the moment the cone is released.

It is apparent that such synchronization is extremely difficult and requires considerable skill. In the event that the synchronizing speed is not exact, there is relative motion between the cone and the road surface which causes cones of the former type to kick over and fail to stand upright. Such an occurrence results in considerable loss of time in the operation of placing the cones.

It is one of the major objects of my invention to provide a traific safety cone which will not kick over even when released to the road surface at substantial horizontal speed with respect to the road surface.

In placing such traffic cones during painting operations or around obstructions in the road or highway, the operator prefers to throw the cone to the desired position which is sometimes as much as 15 feet distant thereby saving substantial time and walking effort. The former cones refuse to stand upright under such conditions unless the person placing them has acquired suflicient skill to cause them to land at just the proper angle and in the proper manner.

A further object of my invention is to provide a traflic cone having sufiicient flexibility to permit the upper portion to collapse when striking the road surface at a wide range of angles and which has sufiicient resilience to return to its original shape after coming to rest.

Traffic cones in place not infrequently are struck by moving vehicles so that they fall over and roll into adjoining trafiic lanes thereby creating a trafiic hazard.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a traffic safety cone which is formed with means for preventing the cone from rolling if it is accidentally knocked over.

In placing such traffic cones it is customary to carry a substantial number of them in the back of a truck for distribution. Of necessity the comes must be stacked and any configuration which interferes with the removal of the cones interrupts the efiiciency of the operation.

It is also among the objects of my invention to provide a trafiic cone having spacing pads projecting laterally from the base which prevent rolling but have a configuration nited States Patent 2,837,308 Patented Dec. 24, 1957 which prevents interference between cones during nesting and removal from the stack.

Another object of my invention is to provide cones which can readily be nested in a stack and which are con structed in such a manner that they do not stick to the next adjacent cones.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cone so designed and constructed that the operator can readily pick up any number of cones from one to six from a stack at will.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form of my invention and the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the cone shown in Figure 1 taken on line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the cone shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an elevational view of an enlarged fragmentary section illustrating the nesting of several cones; and

Figure 5 is a side elevational view showing the collapsing feature of the cone in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figure 1 thereof, it will be seen that in the form of my invention illustrated herein, the marker consists of a truncated cone shaped body designated generally by the numeral 10 and a laterally extending base designated generally 11 preferably integral with the body and adapted to support the body 10 in an upright position. The base 11 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced radially extending spacing pads designated generally by the numeral 12.

The detailed construction of the form illustrated is shown more clearly in Figures 24 inclusive wherein it will be seen that the body 10 is formed with a relatively thin wall 14 defining a hollow truncated cone having an opening 13 at the apex thereof and an inwardly directed bead 19 adjacent the top edge. I prefer to form the body 10 or" a relatively flexible material having sufiicient resilience to return to its original shape after it has collapsed, as will be explained later. I have found molded rubber having a deadening filler to be satisfactory for reasons which will appear later. The invention is not, however, limited to any specific material.

The internal head 19 presents a ridge which assists in removal of one cone at a time. The operator may insert his thumb into the opening 13 and grasp the wall 14 at the top of the cone immediately below the bead which presents a shoulder to assist in lifting and assures sufiicient grip even during wet weather when the operators hands may be damp and slippery.

Referring now to the base 11 it will be seen that it is formed with an outer convex surface 15 and an inner concave surface 16 both of substantial radius. The marker also includes an integrally formed intermediate section 17 joining the base 11 to the body 16 and having an outer concave surface 20 and an inner convex surface 21 both of substantial radius.

The base 11 and intermediate section 17 define a generally bell-shaped mouth having a generally s-shaped a cone embodying my surfaces to present a continuous smooth surface. At its lower limit it is preferably normal to the surface upon which it rests.

The base 11 is also provided with a plurality of spacing pads integral therewith and extending radially there from. Each pad has a relatively fiat upper surface 25 which is generally rectangular in shape and a generally vertical outer face 26 defining an outwardly extending lip 27, which is relatively more flexible in a vertical direction than it is horizontally. The junction of the vertical face 26 with the under surface of the lip 27 is undercut to provide a groove or recess 28 which increases the vertical flexibility of the lip.

The under surface of the base 11 is provided with a plurality of downwardly extending feet 30 which space the base slightly above the surface of the road. The markers may therefore be placed directly upon freshly painted surfaces and will not smear the paint or adhere to the surface when the paint dries.

Referrnig to Figure 4 it will be seen that I form the pads 12 with a vertical height greater than the vert cal thickness of any section of the body 10 or intermediate section 17 thereby preventing sticking between adjacent cones during nesting in a stack. This also prevents scraping of adjacent surfaces while placing a marker on or removing it from the stack to thereby protect paint which may be on the outer surface of the markers.

During removal of a marker from a stack, the lips may tend to catch under the edge of one of the markers in an adjacent stack. The outwardly extending lips 27 therefore are sufliciently flexible vertically so that they will not support the weight of markers under which they may be caught. The lips 27 should, however, be sufficiently rigid to support the weight of a marker when it is in a horizontal position so that it will not bend appreciably while the marker is resting on its side to thereby deter rolling.

In Figure 5, I have illustrated the action of a marker constructed in accordance with the teaching of my invention when it is thrown or dropped on a road surface through an are such as shown in broken lines or in some similar manner. When the marker is dropped to the road surface, the base bends as indicated in Figure 5 and the resilience of the body causes it to partially collapse as indicated at 31.

It is for this reason that I prefer to include a deadening filler in the resilient material forming the cone, and at least the base thereof. If the base is not somewhat deadened as by use of a filler, the marker base tends to bounce and not assume an upright position.

Collapsing of the body 10 is materially assisted by the contour of the base portion 11 and the intermediate section 17. If the radius of curvature of the intermediate section 17 and of the convex surface is too small, such abrupt change in the direction of the surfaces tends to stiffen the base and the marker tends to bounce or kick over.

The radii of the convex and concave surfaces 15, 16, 20 and 21 herein designated as substantial may vary over a relatively wide range. They should not be small enough to present abrupt changes in the surface contour and should not be large enough to permit the weight of the conical body 10 tdicollapse the intermediate section 17 while resting upon the base in upright position. I also prefer to form the contiguous curved surfaces 15 and 20, and 16 and 21 so they will be tangent to respective common lines which are generally horizontal.

I have found that for best results the radius of surface 15 should be at least equal to the thickness of the material at that point and in the case of the surface 2.0 the radius should be at least 2 or 3 times the thickness of the intermediate section 17.

It should also be pointed out that the continuous smooth surface both on the interior and exterior of the reverse curve portion of the marker walls, and the absence of any flat shelf-like portion thereof, materially an upwardly and outwardly .4 assist in creating the desired flexibility. Also the joining of the surfaces 15 and 20, and 16 and 21 at a substantially horizontal line materially assists in permitting the base to bend as desired when it is dropped into operative position.

The form of my invention herein shown and described comprises one of the preferred forms thereof and is by way of illustration only. Various modifications of the details of construction may of course be adopted within the teachings of my invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

1. A trafiic marker including: a base portion having convex surface of substantial radius; an intermediate portion supported by said base portion and having an outwardly concave surface of substantial radius; an upright, hollow, truncated, conical body portion supported by said intermediate section, said marker being comprised of a flexible resilient material to permit flexing of said lower portion and partial collapse of said body portion when said marker is dropped or thrown onto a road surface in a generally upright position to thereby prevent upsetting; and a plurality of pads projecting radially from said base, said pads each having an overhanging outwardly directed lip, said lips being relatively flexible in a vertical plane to offer minimum resistance to vertical movement and relatively stiff in a horizontal plane to prevent rolling of said marker when on its side.

2. A traffic marker including: a lower portion and a body portion supported thereby, said lower portion comprising a base portion having an upwardly and outwardly convex surface of substantial radius and an intermediate portion supported by said base portion and having an outwardly concave surface of substantial radius; said body portion comprising an upright, hollow, truncated cone supported by said intermediate portion, said intermediate portion merging with said base and body portions to provide a smooth transition therebetween, said marker having an outer surface characterized by a generally S- shaped reverse curvature in a vertical plane of said lower portion, said marker being comprised of a flexible resilient material to permit flexing of said lower portion and partial collapse of said body portion when said marker is dropped or thrown onto a road surface in a generally upright position to thereby prevent upsetting, the resilience of said material returning said marker to its original shape in an upright position; and a plurality of spacing pads spaced circumferentially around said base portion and projecting radially therefrom, said pads each having an overhanging outwardly directed lip which is relatively flexible in a vertical direction and relatively stiff in a horizontal direction, said spacing pads having a relatively flat upper surface disposed above the upper surface of said base portion and having a height greater than the vertical thickness of any section of said intermediate portion or said body portion, whereby to space the bodies and intermediate portions when said markers are stacked in nesting relationship.

UNITED STATES PATENTS References Cited in the file of this patent 

